1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a thermally-insulative, breast-supportive garment. Thus, the garment of the present invention functions to firstly provide a thermally-insulative fabric layer superficial to the skin of the upper torso region, with particular target areas being the thoracic and abdominal regions. Further, the garment functions to provide fabric-based support structure for the breasts of female users. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermally-insulative brassiere or camisole, which when worn, provides users with means for both thermally insulating the upper torso region as well as supporting the breasts of the upper torso region.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Key to success in any winter or outdoor sporting activity is the requirement to dress adequately. It is noted that the human body ordinarily remains at a fairly constant temperature of 37° Celcius (98.6° Fahrenheit). It is very important that this body temperature be maintained and, since there is a continuous body heat gain from internal body processes, there must also be a continuous body heat loss to maintain body heat in balance. Excess heat must be absorbed by the surrounding air or lost by radiation. As the temperature and humidity of the environment in which a human body is active varies, the human body automatically regulates the amount of heat it gives off. However, the human body's ability to adjust to varying environmental conditions is limited. Furthermore, although the body may adjust to a certain (limited) range of atmospheric conditions, it does so with a distinct feeling of discomfort. The following is a brief discussion of how atmospheric conditions affect the body's ability to maintain a heat balance and the background information supporting the development of the present invention.
The human body gains and loses heat by radiation, convection, conduction, evaporation, and as a by-product of other physiological processes that take place within the body, namely the oxidation of food, other chemical processes, and by friction and tension within muscle tissues. Most body heat, however, is produced by the foods consumed by the individual, which body heat must be removed continuously or body temperature would steadily rise. The principal routes of body heat loss include radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation. Radiation is the transfer of heat as infrared heat rays from a warmer object to a cooler object without physical contact. The human body loses heat by the radiation of heat waves to cooler objects nearby such as ceilings, floors and walls. If these objects are at a higher temperature, the human body absorbs heat by radiation. Incidentally, air temperature has no relationship to the radiation of heat to and from objects. Skiers, for example, are, on occasion, able to comfortably remove clothing in bright sunshine even though the air temperature is very low because the radiant heat from the sun is adequate to warm the skier. In a room at 21° C. (70° F.), about 60 percent of heat loss is by radiation in a resting person.
Conduction is the process by which body heat is transferred to a substance or object in contact with the body, such as chairs, clothing, jewelry, air or water. At rest, about 3 percent of body heat is lost via conduction to solid objects. The contact of air or water with the human body results in heat transfer by both conduction and convection. Convection is the transfer of heat by the movement of a liquid or gas between areas of different temperature. When cool air makes contact with the body, it becomes warmed and less dense. The less dense air then rises. Subsequently, cool air makes contact with the body and is carried away as it warms by conduction and becomes less dense. The faster the air moves, the faster the rate of convection. When at rest, about 15 percent of body heat is lost to the air by conduction and convention.
Evaporation is the conversion of a liquid to vapor. Water has a high heat of evaporation, and because of this characteristic, every gram of water (as found in perspiration) evaporating from the skin takes with it a relatively great deal of heat—on the order of about 0.58 kilocalories per gram of water. Under normal conditions, about 22 percent of heat loss occurs through evaporation. Under extreme conditions, about 4 liters of perspiration are produced each hour, and this volume can remove about 2,000 kilocalories of heat from the body. This is approximately 32 times the basal level of heat production.
Even though there are wide fluctuations in environmental temperature, the human body's homeostatic mechanisms can maintain a normal range for the internal body temperature. If the body heat production equals the body heat loss, the body maintains a constant core temperature near the earlier cited 37° C. Body heat losses may be classified in two general categories, namely, loss of sensible heat and loss of latent heat. Sensible heat is given off by radiation, convection and conduction. Latent heat is given off in the breath and by evaporation or perspiration. In perfectly still air, the layer of air around a body absorbs the sensible heat given off by the body and increases in temperature. The layer of air also absorbs some of the water vapor given off by the body, thus increasing the relative humidity. This means the body is surrounded by an envelope of moist air that is at a higher temperature and relative humidity than the ambient air. Therefore, the amount of heat the body can lose to this envelope is less than the amount it can lose to the ambient air. When the air is set in motion past the body, the envelope is continually being removed and replaced by the ambient air, thereby increasing the rate of heat loss from the body. When the increased heat loss improves the body heat balance, the sensation of a breeze is felt; when the increase is excessive, the rate of heat loss makes the body feel cool and the sensation of a draft is felt.
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the three factors, namely temperature, humidity, and air motion, are closely interrelated in their effects upon the comfort and health of winter or outdoor sports enthusiasts. In fact, a given combination of temperature, humidity, and air motion will produce the same feeling of warmth of coolness as a higher or lower temperature in conjunction with a compensating humidity and air motion. The term given to the net effect of these three factors is known as the Effective Temperature. Effective Temperature cannot be measured by an instrument, but can be found on a special psychometric chart when the temperatures and air velocity are known. The combinations of temperature, relative humidity, and air motion of a particular Effective Temperature may produce the same feeling of warmth or coolness. However, they are not all equally comfortable. Relative humidity below about 15 percent produces a parched condition of the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and lungs, and increases susceptibility to disease germs. Relative humidity above about 70 percent causes an accumulation of moisture in the clothing. For the best health conditions, relative humidity ranges from about 40 to 50 percent for cold weather and from 50 to 60 percent for warm weather.
As earlier stated, most of the body heat produced by the human body comes from oxidation of the food humans eat. The rate at which this heat is produced is referred to as the metabolic rate. Among the factors that affect the metabolic rate are the following: exercise, nervous system, hormones, body temperature, food ingestion, age and several other variables of lesser direct involvement, namely gender, climate, sleep, and malnutrition. During strenuous exercise activity, such as skiing or snowboarding, the metabolic rate may increase to as much as 15 times the normal rate; in well-trained athletes, the rate may increase to a rate 20 times the normal metabolic rate. Thus, it will be understood that adequate clothing protection for the winter or outdoor sports enthusiast is essential. Further, providing adequate breast support for female sports enthusiasts is also essential. In this regard, it is thus noted that various types of athletic sports type brassieres are known in the art. Some of the more pertinent prior art relating to athletic sports brassieres and the like is described hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,944 ('944 patent), which issued to Cooper, discloses a Brassiere. The '944 patent teaches a brassiere comprising front, rear, and shoulder portions forming an elongated neck opening therebetween, the front and rear portions extended laterally beyond the shoulder portions into substantial juxtaposition to form an arm opening and the side edges of each of said front and rear portions converging in a direction away from the neck opening, and means for securing said converging edges, said securing means including parts extending beyond both of said edges, whereby the said juxtaposed edges are held in substantially a common plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,980,767 ('767 patent), which issued to Snader, discloses a Brassiere. The '767 patent teaches a brassiere comprising a sheer inelastic body portion freely enveloping the breasts and a relatively stiff band of elastic webbing fixed to the bottom edge of the body portion adapted to encircle the body of the wearer contractively in a zone beneath the breasts affording a firm line of support for the breasts solely at the base, leaving otherwise free to assume a natural contour determined by said support, and the front of the band being deflected upwardly toward the middle of the front, in the unworn garment, whereby when the band is distended by the body of the wearer, the lower edge will be tensioned to a greater extent than the upper edge, to prevent rolls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,632 ('632 patent), which issued to James et al., discloses a Brassiere. The '632 patent teaches a brassiere of endless construction having sufficient elasticity to permit donning thereof by stepping thereinto or by slipping over the shoulders and freedom of movement of the body when properly positioned while adequately supporting the breasts without undue confinement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,776 ('776 patent), which issued to Luhr, discloses a Slip-Over Garment. The '776 patent teaches a slip-over garment or dickey of abbreviated dimensions comprising a body member formed by sewing together two mating pieces of a stretchable fabric such as nylon. The body member is formed with a pair of armholes, a torso opening, and a neck hole. If desired, a stretchable fabric collar, which can also be nylon, may be sewn to the main body member at the neck opening in order to form a turtleneck, V-neck, boat neck or the like. A zipper may also be included to facilitate donning and removal of the garment. An elastic band about ⅝ inch wide is secured to the lower extremity of the dickey around its circumference in order to assist in preventing the garment from riding up on the torso while the wearer is engaging in normal activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,717 ('717 patent), which issued to Schreiber et al., discloses an Athletic Brassiere. The '717 patent teaches an athletic brassiere, particularly suitable for women runners, which holds the breasts comfortably and snugly to the body. A wide elastic rib band and elastic straps which cross in the back hold the brassiere firmly in place. Non-irritating material is used and all seams face the outside. All hardware is eliminated. The cups are not shaped but are preferably made of elastic material to pull the breasts in snugly against the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,544 ('544 patent), which issued to Flanagan et al., discloses a Sports Bra. The '544 patent teaches a bra for particular use during sporting activity. The bra has no cups formed in the material, and seams are otherwise avoided. The bra is, essentially, formed as one continuous knitted piece with a two way stretch and the rear of the bra has a height almost the same as that of the front of the bra to provide added support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,771 ('771 patent), which issued to Bergman, discloses a Brassiere. The '771 patent teaches an improved brassiere in which the breast supporting fabric comprises cotton/Lycra, which is initially flat but which, without the use of seams, darts, moldings or shaping, stretches around and generally conforms to the shape of the wearer's breasts to hold them against the body. A feature of the preferred bra is that it is devoid of all hardware such as clips or buckles and it includes a wide midriff portion at the front, sides and back for improved support.
From an inspection of these patent disclosures and other art generally known in the relevant art, it will be seen that the prior art does not teach a thermally-insulative, breast supportive undergarment comprising an anterior fabric portion and a posterior fabric portion each portion comprising thermally-insulative material having bidirectional or girthwise fabric elasticity. More particularly, the prior art does not teach anterior fabric portion and a posterior fabric portion wherein the anterior fabric portion comprises an anterior neck portion, an anterior midriff portion, laterally opposed anterior arm portions, and a plurality of anterior seam sections, and the posterior fabric portion comprises a posterior neck portion, a posterior midriff portion, laterally opposed posterior arm portions, and a plurality of posterior seam sections. Further, the prior art does not teach an undergarment comprising anterior seam sections and posterior seam sections such that when the sections are attached to one another, the anterior and posterior neck portions cooperatively form select neck-encircling structure, the anterior and posterior midriff portions cooperatively forming a midriff-receiving aperture, and the anterior and posterior arm portions cooperatively form laterally opposed arm-receiving apertures, wherein the bidirectional fabric elasticity provides breast-supportive resilience and wherein the thermally-insulative material and the fabric elasticity cooperatively provide a wearer with a thermally-insulative, breast-supportive undergarment. Thus, the prior art perceives a need for a thermally-insulative, breast supportive undergarment as briefly described hereinabove.